Call for Postdoctoral Fellow for Six Seasons of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak Project

Call for Postdoctoral FellowSix Seasons of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak ProjectUniversity of Winnipeg

The Six Seasons of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak: Reclamation, Regeneration, and Reconciliation Partnership Project, hosted by the Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures (CRYTC) at the University of Winnipeg, invites applications for a full-time, postdoctoral fellow beginning August 1, 2018 and ending July 31, 2019. Applicants should have a completed PhD or expect to complete a PhD by August 2018 in the field of Indigenous studies, Indigenous governance, Indigenous data management/archives, education, cultural studies, history, geography, or a related field.

Six Seasons of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak is a seven-year project funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant and directed by Dr. Mavis Reimer. The overall goal of the project is to move forward the ongoing work of reclaiming Indigenous languages, histories, and knowledges among the Asiniskow Ithiniwak (Rocky Cree), work that is taking place in the context of the calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) for, among many other things, the revitalization of Indigenous cultures, the “relearning of Canada’s national history,” and the reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. The objectives and activities of the project are:

to undertake collaborative, community-directed archaeological research in order to advance the understanding of the Rocky Cree during the protocontact period of the mid-1600s;

to build a rich historical understanding of the people of the region at the time;

to create a cycle of stories about the life of the Rocky Cree that is grounded in the archaeological and historical records and set during the six seasons of the Rocky Cree year;

to translate the oral stories into a series of picture books directed to young people, into a series of digital texts that invite players to actively engage the Rocky Cree world, and into travelling and permanent museum exhibits;

to develop teachers’ guides to support the curricular use of the narratives and to provide training for educators in culturally competent pedagogy;

to document, analyze, and assess the methods of collaborative, participatory, and community-based research used by project researchers; and

to mobilize the results of this meta-analysis for the purpose of advancing public policy and programming for reconciliation.

The postdoctoral fellow will be expected to continue to develop their ongoing research within a field of study compatible with the research initiative and to bring their research expertise to bear in collective discussions and decisions about the project. We particularly encourage applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous. Field of study is open but candidates conducting research in areas that support and extend the strength of the Six Seasons Project are especially welcome. These include the areas of Indigenous education, Indigenous governance and policy, Indigenous community-based research, Indigenous data management/archives, Indigenous geography/cartography, and Indigenous texts and cultures for young people. The postdoctoral fellow will participate in the Six Seasons knowledge mobilization activities and partner engagement. It is likely that there will be opportunities for the successful candidate to teach in the area of their expertise as Contract Academic Staff.

The base award is $40,000 per annum. Benefits and knowledge mobilization allowance are additional to the base award. Teaching would be remunerated separately. Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2018, and will continue until the position is filled.

Please submit applications to Project Manager Larissa Wodtke at l.wodtke@uwinnipeg.ca. Include a letter of application, curriculum vitae, recent teaching evaluations (when possible), three reference letters, and copies of two recently published articles or working papers. Please email Larissa if you have any questions about this position.